Criminal justice reform in NYC isn’t near finished
The likely new mayor of our great city, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, just won the Democratic primary positioned as the champion of public safety and community connection. That intersection creates a powerful opportunity to invest in public safety that works, public safety driven by communities.
However, rather than focusing on new solutions for public safety, many in leadership are tying justice reform to rising crime in New York and suggesting we return to failed tough on crime approaches, for example calling for more police and tougher enforcement. This is based on fear-baiting journalism rather than fact. There is no evidence that justice reform is driving violence. In fact, homicides are up everywhere — in places that have done reform and places that haven’t — so we must look beyond the headlines and failed approaches that have proven that they can’t create public safety for all New Yorkers.
